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MEASUREMENT AND CONTROL OF BUS TRANSIT SCHEDULE ADHERENCE IN NORTH AMERICA

The reliability of public transit service is an important aspect of the quality of that service as perceived by the passenger. Erratic adherence to schedule can also adversely affect operating costs. Research has indicated a strong relation between schedule adherence and headway maintenance and passenger wait time. This paper reviews this relation, the existing methods employed by transit properties to control operations, and the means of measuring schedule adherence. The relative advantages and disadvantages of several measures are discussed, as well as possible applications of recently developed computer technology to the area of transit operations control. Finally the extent of possible improvements is briefly explored by examining existing schedule adherence on a sample of North American routes and by simulating the results of a real-time control system on a typical route. It is concluded that significant improvement could probably be made on many North American properties, saving several minutes of average wait time in some instances. The types of system that might be employed include more extensive use of voice radio, automatic vehicle monitoring, and automatic bus passenger information. The appropriateness of these applications on different properties depends on several factors, including fleet size and base level of service. /TRRL/